Martin Scorsese

An American director born in New York in 1964.

Son of parents of Sicilian origins, Martin Scorsese grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Italy, spending as much time communing at church as in movie theatres.
A graduate of New York University, he directed several notable short films prior to his first feature, Who's That Knocking at My Door in 1967. He moved to Hollywood where he met Roger Corman who was to produce his second film, Bertha Boxcar. Mean Streets (1973) followed, in which he was to find the recurrent themes of his œuvre: questions of good and evil, religion, guilt, and violence. The film marked his first encounter with Robert De Niro, with whom he was to shoot eight films. Introduced to Warner by Coppola, he went on to direct Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, becoming one of the leading lights of New Hollywood. His smash hit came with Taxi Driver, winning the Palme d’or at Cannes in 1976. A richly diverse body of work ensued, with films such as Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence or Casino. In 1990, he founded The Film Foundation to restore and preserve film heritage worldwide. He then shot five films with Leonardo DiCaprio: Gangs of New York, Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street. He is also the author of many documentaries, notably about his Italian roots and his rock idols: Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.
Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) – Bertha Boxcar (1972) – Mean Streets (1973) – Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) – Taxi Driver (1976) – New York, New York (1977) – The Last Waltz (1978) – Raging Bull (1980) – The King of Comedy (1983) – After Hours (1985) – The Color Of Money (1986) – The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) – GoodFellas (1990) –Cape Fear (1991) – The Age of Innocence (1993) – Casino (1995) – A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Throught American Movies (1995) – From Mali to Mississippi (2003) – Kundun (1997) – Bringing Out The Dead (1999) – Il Mio viaggio in Italia (1999) – Gangs of New York (2002) – Aviator (2004) - No Direction Home (2005) – The Departed (2006) – Shine a Light (2008) – Shutter Island (2010) – A Letter to Elia (2010) – Public Speaking: Fran Lebowitz (2010) – Hugo Cabret (2011) – George Harrison : Living in the Material World (2011) – The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – The 50 Year Argument (2014) – Silence (2016) –The Irishman (2019) – Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Their list of films

Martin Scorsese, an immense director, is also a tireless cinephile, endowed with a rare cinematographic culture and committed to the preservation of the world's cinematographic heritage through his World Cinema Foundation. As he says himself, his love of cinema was formed as much by the films he saw at a young age and which were influential in his formation, as by films and filmmakers he discovered later, whether they were internationally renowned or more confidential; all of these films have nourished and inspired his own filmography. LaCinetek is proud to present not one but two lists composed by Martin Scorsese: one of his "founding films" and another, which he calls an "alternative list", accompanied by a particularly generous letter that he sent to us, which we invite you to discover below.

Open the letter